My wife's in hospital long-term care, asks me to bring her in goodies...loves my grits and hot sausage, about as quick and simple as it gets, and with a touch of butter, cracked pepper and sea salt...true Dallasite's delight!

ConnieLea, I was trying to send you a message via the My Page and then to "My Friends." I keep getting a page that comes up saying something about this page being taken down for maintenance. I was going to respond to our running commentary in this thread. You said something about stores not giving away any food. Reminds me that I saw that a law in France prohibits grocery stores from throwing away any edible food. Some news sources have stated that tons of perfectly good food goes into landfills every year. Such a shame when there are people actually going hungry. I'm a clinical social worker in private practice. I provide therapy to clients, mostly adults, in my office. Some of my clients are quite poor and I learn a lot from them about what it's like to try to make it in this world without very much money. The federal food stamp program (called SNAP now) was cut way back two years ago, apparently based on the fear that some people might benefit too much by having enough food for their families. Several churches in my town have food pantries for poor people who need food. One church offers a free evening meal for anyone who comes, and many people take advantage of that. I hear the food served is pretty good and, to me, sounds healthy and nutritious. The food pantries and the meal program do not require some proof of need. If a person asks for help, they just receive it. How refreshing. There is rental assistance for people who qualify but if you've had any criminal history, you're out of luck there. In my office, I always keep boxes of granola bars and usually I have a few pieces of fresh fruit. If a client comes in and I realize they haven't had anything to eat so far that day, I can give them a little something. Seems like a pretty small thing, but if each of us did some small or easy thing to help those in our corner of the world, we'd like ourselves a lot better as we brighten the day for someone else. Of course there will be some people who abuse systems of help for the needy. Just about any good thing has some flaw in it. If we work so hard to close up every loophole, we're spending time doing that when we could have used the energy to help a few more folks. See how chatty I become when I'm thinking about this topic? I realize I've gone on too long. As I write this, I'm also reminded of how nice it is to have friends from elsewhere in the country or the world through this game site. How neat. Thanks for listening.

We have SNAP & EBT here.
There are also assistance programs with the phone company
(lifeline) if families receive EBT or SNAP they can get a discount
(I think it's about $12.xx) on their bill.
I know of people that have a hard time
making ends come close to meeting,
yet if they apply for EBT they make just enough over the limit
so that they can only draw a few dollars, if any amount.
I think for a two person household the amount they can earn
is $1600.xx and draw around $180.xx on EBT or SNAP.
Every dollar they go over that it's deducted from
what they are able to draw.
They're supposed to turn in ANY kind of monetary help they get,
whether it's earned, found or given to them
and it's taken off of the next months amount.
I find that ridiculous, myself.
But the government is what it is......
BTW, I will attempt to send you a private message before I sign off of GDG.

To make Beef and Noodles, start with about 2 cups of cooked roast beef, cut into bite-size chunks.
In a large pan, bring 1 quart of beef broth or beef stock to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Add about 8 ounces of noodles and cook until noodles are nearly tender. If desired, you can add some chopped celery and carrots to the boiling broth.
In a small dish, combine 3 Tablespoons of flour and about 1/3 cup of the broth. Stir well. Then add this floury paste to the pot of noodles. It will make the sauce somewhat thick.
Here is where you can add some seasonings according to your preferences. We use about 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning.
Add the beef chunks and cook long enough for everything to be heated through.
This can be eaten as it is at this point, or you can serve it over mashed potatoes. Green beans are good as a side dish with this.This is an old-fashioned Iowa winter supper meal.